WashPoA security guard at the Family Research Council was shot and wounded Wednesday morning after a scuffle in the lobby of the group’s headquarters in downtown Washington, authorities said.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the shooter walked into the lobby of the building at about 10:45 and was confronted by the security guard [as] the guard was asking him where he was going.

The man then took out a gun and opened fire on the guard, Lanier said. The guard and others wrestled the man to the ground, disarmed him and waited for police, she said. The guard was then taken to the hospital and is in stable condition, the chief said. (snip)

“The security guard here is a hero, as far as I’m concerned,” Lanier said. ”He did his job. The person never made it past the front.”

Authorities did not identify the shooter or the security guard. They also would not say what kind of gun the shooter used or whether the security guard was armed.

“The police are investigating this incident,” FRC President Tony Perkins said in a statement. “Our first concern is with our colleague who was shot today. Our concern is for him and his family.”

A spokesman from the FRC declined further comment just before noon Wednesday.

James McJunkin, the head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said authorities do not yet know why the person entered the building or why he started shooting.

“We don’t know enough about him or his circumstances to determine what his connection is to this group [the research council] or his mental state, or what he was doing or thinking of doing,” McJunkin said. “So we’re going to try to sort this all out, pull the evidence together, do all the interviews we can.”

McJunkin and Lanier said they did not yet know whether the FBI or the D.C. Police would take the lead on the shooting investigation.

“The possibility is that it could involve circumstances that it could involve a federal crime that would be investigated by the FBI,” McJunkin said. .

The building is not far from the Verizon Center and the Gallery Place Metro station in one of the busiest places in the city. It is near several museums, restaurants and shops and was teeming with tourists on Wednesday.